PEORIA - A 44-year-old Milwaukee police commander who worked his way up from police clerk to head of his department's criminal investigation division was sworn in Monday as Peoria's police chief.

In a brief ceremony followed by loud applause from city officials, neighborhood activists and at least two dozen police officers at City Hall, Steven M. Settingsgaard, dressed in a new set of Peoria police dress blues, was bestowed the chief's badge by interim Chief Gary Poynter.

"My first priority is to learn and watch," Settingsgaard said.

His swearing in comes one year after Poynter was named Peoria's interim chief after John Stenson retired from the office for a job with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

Poynter, who has been a police officer nearly as long as Settingsgaard has been alive, said he was "confident" in the younger man's ability to lead the department.

Settingsgaard was among more than 50 applicants vying for the post that was eventually narrowed to three finalists, City Manager Randy Oliver said.

"One thing that we liked was that he had lot of experience throughout the department," Oliver said.

Settingsgaard joined the Milwaukee Police Department as a clerk at 18. By age 21, he became a patrolman. Within four years, he became a police sergeant - believed to be the youngest sergeant in that department's history, according to Settingsgaard's resume. He either worked in or supervised most aspects of the department, eventually becoming inspector in charge of the department's criminal investigation division last year.

"We wanted someone to grow with our community and not someone who may be looking for somewhere to retire to or a job less challenging," Oliver said. "We looked at him as willing to take on a challenge."

Indeed, Settingsgaard may have a bit of a challenge before him.

Violent crime recently has seen an upswing - the city's sixth homicide was recorded Sunday - and some officers have complained of racial disparity within the department after one officer was recently disciplined for making racial comments.

Settingsgaard said he would combat crime by continuing enforcement of "quality of life issues" that he says when left unenforced will grow into bigger problems. He will also attempt to "mend fences" within the department by noting he was willing to sit down and listen to anyone.

"My general philosophy has become: Policing has moved into high-tech. . . . All the toys are nice, but it's putting good cops on the street that's important," Settingsgaard said. "It's what they can do on the street. They have to be professional, and they have to be energized."

Both rank-and-file and command officers gave their support to the new police chief.

"With anything new, there's new opportunity and new ideas," said police benevolent President Mike Eddlemon. "We don't strive for mediocrity, we strive for excellence."

Page 2 of 2 - Said police Capt. Ron Shipp, "He's a very straight-forward type of guy, the kind of chief we need."